InsuranceMan

Grandest of Tuesday Mornings to you, dearest reader, I know that it has been a minute since I have updated you with a TMIT, but things have just been a bit wild in the land of Insuranceopolis. The quest for good continues, and it just seems busier now than it has ever been, which is certainly a good thing, just time consuming. I come to you today with somewhat of a monumental change to the overall insurance landscape that could be impactful, to say the least. I will approach this issue from two different positions as to not wanting to leave anyone out of the loop. For those of you who already have a distillery with insurance in place, good on ya! You may want to keep the policy you have for the foreseeable future. I will tell you why in just a moment, just hold your horses! For those of you that are just fixin’ to get ready to think about getting into distilling and crafting your masterplan for your distillery, you are going to want to pay attention. As you know from reading my past posts, and if you haven’t read them all, shame! Just kidding, no one is getting shamed in my posts, but do yourself a favor and go back and read them all after you are done here, they have a lot of good information, and some just fun stuff as well. Anyway, by now you know that insurance markets are cyclical, going between hard and soft market cycles. In that, it breaks down further into various coverage types and the ease or difficulty of those specific coverages. What we are dealing with currently is the grueling realm of property coverage. Due to several mitigating circumstances that include high brush fire scores, large losses, and just overall wild weather patterns, things on the property coverage front are changing. It use to be that carriers and their underwriters were more accepting of some well known industry standards. If you had one common space that was used for production and storage, and your storage was more than 40’ linear feet from your production area, all was good and right in the world. Vapor dissipates outside of about 25 feet, and the risk of flammable fumes would likely not reach your storage area. Well, NOT ANY MORE. Word just came down from on high that all major ADMITTED carriers (if you don’t know the difference on Admitted verses Excess & Surplus Lines, there is a post on that as well. I gotch you, Boo!) are now requiring a minimum of a 2 hour fire wall between production and storage. This is now a MUST HAVE! It does not matter if your production is 100’ feet from storage, your product has to either be stored behind a 2 hour fire wall, or in a separate location. This is big news people!!! This means that if you have a distillery with coverage currently, you are grandfathered in and you do not need to put up a fire wall. That is why I said, if you have coverage, you may want to keep it, because if you move the coverage, you may be required to build one. We all know that they are not giving them away for free, not to mention the time and mess associated with the construction. If you are looking to do a build out and start a distillery, well, you best plan on a 2 hour fire wall to store your precious goodies behind because it does not look like this issue is going away for a while. What is a 2 hour rated fire wall you may ask??? Well, I am InsuranceMan2.0, not ConstructionMan, but … a 2 hour fire wall generally consists of both sides of the wall being at least double hung 5/8th inch type X sheet rock, concrete, or masonry. There are a ton of different designs, materials, batt insulation, etc. that can be used, but I would either look it up or get someone in that is a construction expert to put one up. Point being, if you are doing construction currently and your plans don’t have one, you better get one. If you are looking to move your policy to another carrier, you may want to have this handled prior to moving anything over. Realistically, in the grand scheme of things, having this added layer of protection is probably just a good idea. If you had a loss to the production area, which is bad enough, you certainly do not want it getting your stored or finished yumminess too! There are other ways to combat a fire wall issue. A separate building for storage, perhaps. Maybe a Conex container out back of your building? There are other creative ways to get around the need for a fire wall in your distillery, but I wanted to make you all aware of what is coming down the pike … actually, what has already come down the pike, so that you can be prepared and not have any surprises when you have wrapped everything up on the construction front, go to get insurance, and W H A M M Y ! ! ! You get hit by the fire wall bus. I am here for you, to bring you the most up to date and relevant insurance information, and mainly to protect you, dearest denizens of Insuranceopolis. If you have any questions, or if you would like to speak with me about this, or any other issues you may be facing, please, shoot me an email, text, give me a call, or flash the InsuranceMan2.0 beacon into the sky!!! Until then … Stay Vigilant!!! Aaron Linden a.k.a. InsuranceMan2.0 aaron@roaringforkins.com or insuranceman2.0@yahoo.com 307-752-5961

Good Tuesday Morning to You Dearest Readers, I know that I have been a bit absent here on the forums as of late, so an explanation is in order. Although the Insurance-verse has been very good to me as of late, in the way of garnering many more of you into my fiefdom, thank you, it also has also been adversely karmic. The Insurance-verse giveth and taketh away. I have had the continued good fortune of working with a variety of new distillers, some of which are quite large, and therefore a bit more time consuming. As well, this time of year is usually a bit wild as the holidays and end of the year approach. All good though, all good. Then … The insurance world has been a bit topsy turvy for the last many months. Almost like Bizzaro World, and instead of the main character wears the big “S” on his chest, instead it is me, InsuranceMan 2.0 who has to deal in the inverted madness of the Insurance-verse Bizzaro World. In this realm, property rates have gone through the roof, there are many geographical locations where you cannot even get standard carriers to write property AT ALL, and in other regions, Liquor Liability Insurance in non-existent. What is happening?!?!?!? Why have simple, routine things become so crazy and difficult? Well, because the Insurance-verse runs on cycles. Like El Nino, or any other cyclical phenomenon that just happens. I have talked about this in other postings, but basically what happens is there are years with more claims that the years prior, and this makes carriers and underwriters gun shy. They “knee jerk” react to the frequency and severity of claims, and they will either raise rates like crazy, or they will just simply pull out of a market all together. To protect the carrier, and mainly to protect myself, I will not name them specifically, but there is an insurance provider that I actually started this distillery insurance program with over a decade ago, that has now decided to pull out of the alcohol industry altogether. This is a carrier that I relied on for years and years to assist me in assisting the more difficult distilleries obtain insurance. Now, before your thoughts run off as to what makes a distillery “difficult”, it may only have to do with their location, their size, or if they are just starting up and the standards won’t look at them as of yet. It does not necessarily mean that they have had crazy claims, etc., although, sometimes, but I digress. Anyway, this carrier that I depended on for this sect of distilleries has completely pulled out of the distillery insurance market because they are no longer offering Liquor Liability. Kind of a key component of coverage for a distillery. Here is the Bizzaro World part of this whole thing … were distilleries the cause of this reaction??? Were tasting rooms that were handing out or selling samples, over-serving folks and causing claims??? NO!!!!!!!!!!!! It was not distilleries at all, they had nothing to do with it. It was some sketchy bars, poorly run restaurants, and the like. No distillery that I work with had any liquor claims … NONE! Seems like a few bad apples truly have ruined the bunch in this scenario. By now, you know me well enough to know that when my citizens are in distress I fly in to save the day, usually to uproarious cheers … You’re Welcome! So, I go to the carrier, we talk about old times and “remember when” … good times. I then says to them, I says, “Hey, I understand that you had some pretty large liquor claims, and more and more smaller ones, but those didn’t come from distilleries, so … you know, let’s keep writing those since they are not the problem. Whatdaya say?” They then says to me, they says, “NO!” I asked why, since distilleries were not the issue. They said that the upper management took a stance that they would pull out of the liquor market altogether, just refuse to write any kind of liquor, at all. They seemingly could not pick and choose who to provide liquor liability to, so they just had to get out of it completely. UGH! You win this time you heartless monster, but I WILL BE BACK!!! Beat up, but not out of the fight, I went to a few other carriers and I have been able to replace this coverage through them, again, you’re welcome! So if you find yourself in a situation such as this, shine the InsuranceMan 2.0 beacon into the sky and I will show up to assist you. That, or you could just call or email me, that works as well. I will say though, there are still a few states that Liquor Liability is going to be very difficult to obtain in this new Bizzaro World. Bizzaro Alaska, as well as Bizzaro Alabama are C H A L L E N G I N G!!! Do not despair, I have superhero abilities in these states as well, but you need to be prepared for a bit of sticker shock, trust me. With that, dear reader, I must be off to do my stuff and things that I do. Know that I hold you all close to my heart, and you are always on my mind. I am sorry that I had left you for a time, I know I was likely missed, like a lot!!! Here I am though, still here for you, and if you need anything, you know how to contact me. Until next time, dear reader … STAY VIGILANT!!! Aaron Linden aka InsuranceMan 2.0 aaron@roaringforkins.com or InsuranceMan2.0@yahoo.com 307-752-5961

Happy Tuesday Evening to One and All, Although I have been absent for some time, know that I have missed you greatly!!! As it turns out, all is not well in the battle taking place in the insuranceverse, and things have been tenuous, but I, InsuranceMan 2.0 have not given up the battle, and I gain grounds each day. I have many distillers coming to me, keeping me incredibly busy, and I have battled and won many a victory in their name. I do it for you, dear readers/distillers, and my track record is second to NONE! More on that later and the ever changing market and battles. In the meantime though, I have used my superpowers to fly to Las Vegas with my beloved assistant to visit with any of you attending the GIANTIC ADI expo/convention (20 years ... woot-woot) and visit with each of you in person. Yes, that is correct. I have taken precious time to come and speak with each and every one of you at the convention ... well, at least each of you that will be in attendance. The rest will be here in spirit! I will be in attendance at booth 331, and I encourage any of you that have not yet met me in person to grace me with you presents at the insurance super booth of 331. To those of you that I have had the pleasure of meeting, please stop by and allow me to bask in your aura for at least a moment. Gaze your eyes semi upward from floorish distance (like 4 to 6 feet off of terra-firma) and scan the normalish eyesight gaze as if you were walking and not looking at you handheld communication device, and you will see the fantabulous "InsuranceMan 2.0" pop-up/stand up banner. Behold it for a moment for its amazinginess, then approach and speak. You will be heard and your needs will be met. Until tomorrow and the next day my friends ... Stay Vigailant!!! Best, Aaron Linden aka InsuranceMan 2.0 aaron@roaringforkins.com or InsuranceMan2.0@yahoo.com 307-752-5961

Happiest of Tuesdays to you!!! Have you wondered where I have been … did you notice I have not posted in a while … maybe you have, maybe you have not, but rest assured, I am still here protecting the insurance-verse for you and the other denizens here on the forums. Suffice to say, between being a fulltime superhero, work, and living my cover life as a mild-mannered citizen, things have been rather wild and busy. Some family issues, travel, etc., it has kept me busy and with little time to do anything. With that said though, it is a new month, and I am resolved in finding some spare time to pen these much anticipated Tuesday Morning Insurance Tidbits of goodness for you, dear reader. With that, I am going to keep it relatively short and, I must warn you … not very sweet. Bitter in fact in many ways. I know you have read my updates concerning market cycles, brush fire scores, etc., and unfortunately and fortunately I am going to speak about this a bit more in this TMIT since you need to be aware as to what is on the horizon. We are deep in the throws of a double hard market, impacted by claims, and rates impacted by inflation, Covid, and ridiculous brush fire scores. Let us take these one-by-one, shall we??? Let’s start with the double hard market. As you know from past musings, hard markets are cyclical and run from a 3 to 5, up to a 7 year cycle. The good news here is that I am not foreseeing a 5 or 7 year cycle. I do think we need to settle in though for 3 years of “not super pleasant times”. I have been doing this for 20+ years and have a pretty good “gut” for this kind of thing as well as market statistical analysis that I am basing this on. A double hard market is like a supervillain with extra superpowers!!! Not only are they dangerous, they also have the supercharge chutzpah to back it up! Basically, a double hard market (my term, not theirs … you know, them …) come in the way of rate and underwriting. First, rates are on the rise, and second, certain things that they would slip past underwriting in the past they no longer are willing to do. This spells a bit of trouble on the horizon for those purchasing distillery insurance, or renewing past policies. I have seen rate on the rise of anywhere from 7%-20% depending on the carrier, coverage, location, litigiousness of Liquor Liability claims in states, etc. As well, speaking of underwriting, I have not only seen carriers choose to not renew policies in certain states altogether, but I have also seen them putting a moratorium on writing any NEW business in a state. This means that even if they had previously written coverage in a certain state, they are not offing to continue to write it anymore. In some cases, they will partner this along with making the renewal so expensive that it leaves the current clients with no other choice than to shop for a new carrier. Basically a “cancellation” of sorts simply due to prohibitive costs. DIABOLICAL!!! Then we have claims history. Not only is this weighed individually, but also by state, and as a whole. Liquor Liability claims have been on the rise over the past few years, and that is having a heckuva impact on certain states, in particular. If you are in Alabama for instance … best of luck. Actually, I have found a few carriers that will provide it, but it can be a costly endeavor for sure. Like 3 to 4 times more than most any other state. As well, our friends in California are seeing carriers not taking on any new liquor liability business. This compounded with the aforementioned makes operating in certain places rather difficult. No worries though, I am still here fighting the good fight for all of you, and I can assist you with my ultra-super-insurance powers. I will briefly touch on inflation and Covid as we are all sick and tired of hearing about and feeling the impacts from these items. Inflation effects everything, including insurance rates. It is not due to supply-chain however, but dollars are simply not going as far as they use to. Then, “the ‘Vid”. The “’VID” has had an impact due to being short staffed, people not going back to work at insurance companies, on and on and on. ‘Nough said. Last but certainly not least is the crazy brush fire scores that we are seeing throughout the country. Drought, past wildfires this last year throughout the country, and the prediction of an unseasonably dry year have underwriters shaking in their 3-piece suits, or pantsuits … either way. They take the past information as well as the predictory “crystal-ball” information that actuaries provide them with (an aside here. If you don’t know any actuaries, let me tell you, they are like morticians mixed with accountants, mixed with a log, but lacking the personality! I jest … kind of). All indications point to dry and fire-y year, and that is not a good combo for actuaries and underwriters. Some carriers, in fact, have chosen to not underwrite property of any kind in certain areas. Those that are writing it are getting a premium for it (pun intended), like a BIG premium. At this point in the writing, I feel like I am the bearer of bad news, and that was not my intent at all, rather, I simply want to inform you and make you aware of what is happening in the insurance-verse. Alas, worry not dearest reader, I am here to assist and serve. I have carriers that will do anything, anywhere, albeit, for a cost. I also have the VERY BEST carriers in the world that will look to make sense of things and try to make the round peg fit in the square hole when possible. If you are facing this “Hydra-Hardmarket” (I am copywriting that right now as I have never heard that in the past and just came up with it, and it sounds like just the kind of super-monster fit for InsuranceMan2.0!!! to battle!!!) give me a call, shoot me an email, turn on the InsurnaceMan2.0!!! sky-floodlight-thingy. Whatever works for you. I am ready and willing to assist each and everyone here, big or small I will protect you all. Until next time, truth-seekers … Stay Vigilant, Aaron Linden a.k.a. InsuranceMan2.0 307-752-5961 aaron@roaringforkins.com or insuranceman2.0@yahoo.com

Goodest of all mornings to you dear TMIT readers, Ah, it is a good day, to be sure. The sun is shining, the humidity is rising, and I am in the Bourbon Capital of the world ... Louisville!!! Speaking of, I am at the ADI convention and Expo here in this magnificent city, and you have the rare opportunity to stop by booth 726 and meet a real life insurance superhero ... ME, InsuranceMan 2.0!!! (my official vendor badge even says it right under my name). I invite you, one and all, to my booth to have a one-on-one chat with the one and only InsuranceMan 2.0!!! where I will answer any questions you have, pose for photos with you (something to take home to the kiddies or loved ones to impress them), and even sign autographs, if you so desire. Why would anyone miss this opportunity?!?!?! It is beyond me. So stop by my booth ... or ELSE!!! Just kidding, but really, stop by and see me. Whether we have worked together in the past (I would love to catch up in person), or if you have read my posts and are curious about the man behind the mask (except I will probably be wearing a mask at the expo ... rules and all), I would love to have the chance to meet you and talk with you. I truly hope to see you, and look forward to seeing my old friends in person for what feels like forever, or meet you for the first time. Heck, shoot me a text and let me know you are dropping by, let's make this "interactive". My super-cell is 307-752-5961. Until tomorrow and the next day when I will be live at the expo, and I look forward to seeing you face-to-face ... Stay Vigilant, Aaron Linden a.k.a. InsuranceMan 2.0!!! 307-752-5961 aaron@roaringforkins.com Or

Bestest of Friday Mornings to You, Dearest Reader, Here we are again, on the precipice of yet another great summer weekend. The sun is shining, the garden is growing, and all is right with the world. In accordance with all that is well and good, I present today’s Tuesday Morning Insurance Tidbit, albeit, on a Friday. (Insert triumphant trumpet sounds here in your mind). Today’s TMIT is somewhat short and sweet, I know, not my normal M.O. Although, most of the posts that I, InsuranceMan 2.0!!!, put out are not short … they do usually drip with the saccharine-y sweetness of all thing’s insurance. I wanted to announce that I will be in attendance at the ADI Expo in Louisville, KY the week of August 23rd through the 25th … AND I WANT TO SEE YOU AT BOOTH 726!!! I am so incredibly excited to see the Expo taking place this year, and to get out and mingle and talk to all of you from the forums!!! Face-to-face, mano-y-mano, eye-to-eye, one-on-one, vis-à-vis, in the flesh! I have met many of you from the forums already, but I would love to see you again. Others I speak with weekly or so, and I love our conversations via the phone, but I am excited to see you in person. For those of you whom I have not met as of yet, YOU MUST STOP BY AND SAY HI!!! I love to make new friends and acquaintances!!! One of my most favorite events of the year is the ADI Expo simply due to the fact that I do get to see all of my clients in one place over the course of a few days. It is always such an amazing time and I love to get to see all of you since it is difficult to come out and see each of you individually. Please stop by and say “Hi”!!! After all, when was the last time you were able to speak to an Insurance Superhero in person?!?!?!? Until next time, dear reader … Stay Vigilant, Aaron Linden – a.k.a. InsuranceMan 2.0!!! (307) 752-5961 aaron@roaringforkins.com or insuranceman2.0@yahoo.com

@Bakery87, Mike, get a hold of me and I will take care of all of your needs if you like. As I have said previously, I have worked with over 500+ distilleries in all 50 states, and I can resolve any of these issues for you and make sure that all of the coverage, not just the auto, are taken care of to the level they need be all while keeping the premiums in check. Give me a call or text at 307-752-5961 if you would like to discuss this or just ask a few questions.

Happiest of Summer Days, to You, Dear Reader, As you may or may not know, summer is a busy time of year around the Insurance-verse and a lot of renewals and new business occur between the July 1st date through the middle of the month each year, which means that I, InsuranceMan 2.0!!!, have been extremely busy the last many weeks. On top of that, I have been in Louisville, KY doing presentations on Distillery Insurance which took some time away, further delaying my ability to get out the TMIT in a timely manner. However, I am back in the swing of things, and I have a special treat for you today. Not only is it a Tuesday Morning Insurance Tidbit on a Thursday, but it is also a TMIT TWO-FER!!! That’s right, I am going to touch upon two different topics today, all wrapped into one. I know, super exciting … but try to contain yourself. It is a lot to take in, for sure, so if you need to read the first part and then take a breather, and get back to the second part later, I understand. The first topic that I want to touch upon is “REPALCEMENT COST” coverage, under your property portion of the policy, specifically for your buildings or Tenant’s Improvements and Betterments (TIB’s). If you have either been hiding under a rock for the last year, or just not paying attention, let me tell you what I am talking about. According to Business Insider, the cost of lumber has risen over 250% to 300% in the last year. “OK, so what? What does that have to do with my insurance?” I am getting there dear reader, patience. You know that eight-foot long 2x4 that you used to buy for $2.40? Well, if we use the numbers from the folks at the magazine mentioned above, that means that one singular 2x4 is now going to run you upwards of $6 to $7 a board now. That 4’x8’ 5/8” OSB board that had been around $25 a sheet a year or so ago, well, it is now closer to $75 a sheet. That 6x6 … yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, you get it. Here is the long and short of this and how it ties into your insurance … When your property policy describes “REPLACEMENT COST” (RC) it defines RC as the cost to replace your property with “like kind and quality” up to the limit specified. This means that if they need to replace a computer that you bought 3 years ago for $1,000 (that is now a bit outdated) with the same computer now that they can buy for $300, then that is what you will get, $300 since it is the same computer, the cost has just come down. If they don’t make that computer anymore, and they have to replace it with the same RAM, SSHD, etc., and the only thing they can find is $1,200 then you will get the $1,000 (the fictitious limit you had on the fictitious policy in this case), minus the deductible, and you will have to eat the extra $200. Again, RC is “UP TO THE LIMIT” stated on the policy. Take that example and apply it to your building. With lumber skyrocketing, if your policy limit has not been adjusted, that could be a huge issue. Let’s say that your building was originally built for $350,000 years ago, but it is still showing that same $350,000 limit now, you are probably under insured. If it is a frame structure, OSB decking for the roof, etc., your replacement cost in today’s construction world could be in the neighborhood of $900,000 to $1,000,000 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yeah, that is a lot of exclamation marks, because this is kind of a big deal. Your policy says “REPLACEMENT COST” of $350,000 and now it would cost $1,000,000. That leaves you on the hook for around $650,000 since the most the policy will pay is the limit shown on the policy, that is why they show you a limit. Again, BIG DEAL! To make matters worse, you more than likely have a co-insurance provision of 80% or 90%. I have done articles on co-insurance previously, so you can go read those if you want an in-depth understanding of that, but, sufficed to say, once co-insurance is factored in it could leave you well short on the amount you receive to try and replace your building. Something to certainly think about. The last thing I want to say about this is, no one wants to overpay for insurance premiums, and just because lumber is up, does it mean you should adjust your policy to a higher limit to make sure you are protected? Well, that is a slippery slope. It is true that lumber may come back down, and you may be ok with your current limit a year or so from now, but what happens in the meantime? That is a huge unknown, but it is something that you should definitely keep in mind and have a conversation with your insurance agent about, and if your insurance agent is not InsuranceMan 2.0!!! you really need to ask yourself, “why!?!?!?”. I digress. As long as you know the risks, you can then decide as to if you want to self-insure that exposure, or adjust it to fit the need. You could also discus “Functional Replacement Cost” with you agent (and again that agent should be me!). Basically, this would be an option for stating a coverage limit of “X”, but as long as you get the same square footage and functionality, you don’t care what kind of material it is replaced with. Functional Replacement Cost allows for the carrier to reconstruct your former stick built property from metal (let’s say) in order to accommodate the same square footage, etc., for the amount listed on the policy since you may be able to reconstruct a steel building for much less than a frame building if you are limited by the value you had on the policy. Again, just another way to solve this possible issue. OK, if you need a breather, now is the time. I will wait ………………. Ah, back so soon? Excellent. On to the second topic of the TMIT TWO-FER!!! Fire Rating Scores. This one is a “hot” topic (pun kind of intended), but it is no laughing matter. Fire Ratings are constantly updated throughout the year through a complex algorithm of wild fire models that provide underwriters with probabilistic loss metrics based on 80 distinct geographic data sets and 300,000 simulations of wildfire data. This is broken down into several subsets such as Risk Score; Brush Fire; Preburn Scores; Preburn Distance; Firebreaks; Average Days of High Wind; etc. Ok, we know this is complex, and you don’t need a history lesson in fire ratings here, just the info that you want to know. What you want to and need to know is that the country is on fire and things have been hot and dry!!! Don’t believe me?!?! Check out this website from the Fed’s: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/ . This is a live tracker of all of the fires in the country. So, how does this effect you? Well, it could affect you greatly if you are in these hot and dry areas around the country and your insurance is coming up for renewal. Let’s take the Brush Fire rating for instance. Near my neck of the woods this rating went from a 30 (on a scale of 0 – 100) this spring, to 100 currently. This means that underwriters are taking this matrix of scores into effect and we are seeing some rate increases of anywhere from 1 to 1.5 TIMES in the way of premium. That is not 1 to 1.5%, let’s be clear, it is a multiplied increase of 1 to 1.5 times. I have one insured that was paying around $60,000 last year and on their July renewal (remember above, there is a lot going on in July), their premium jumped up to nearly $90,000 for the year. That was not due to an increase of stock on hand, or a huge sales year, that was mainly due to property, location, and these fire ratings. There are a few ways to handle this kind of situation and avoid getting caught up in this underwriting anomaly that I have worked through and crafted answers to in the past, but I am not going to divulge them here. Kind of Trade Secrete and all and if other insurance folks can’t figure it out, I am not going to help them, but I will help you. Call me, email me, send up the InsuranceMan 2.0!!! sky beacon, whatever you like, but get a hold of me if you are facing this situation, and I will help you out. To long and short of this TMIT Two-Fer is this … between the cost of construction going up and the fire hazard in this country being incredibly high in many areas, it is potentially a dangerous time in which underwriters are being very cautious and taking more premium for risks, and building could be undervalued in a world on fire. A perfect storm so to say. As well, if you are in a high fire hazard area, you may find yourself faced with the dreaded NON-RENEWAL !!!!! GASP!!!!! It is true, I have had some carriers state that although they were on the risk in the past, they are not longer able to offer terms. If you need assistance with a cancellation/non-renewal, or in figuring out what to do, or if you are covered adequately, or if you are coming up for a spike in renewal premium, and you need assistance, get a hold of me and I will gladly assist you, Dear Reader. Until Next Time …. Stay Vigilant, Aaron Linden – a.k.a InsuranceMan 2.0!!! 307-752-5961 insuranceman2.0@yahoo .com or aaron@roaringforkins.com

Happy Thursday to You, Dear Reader, I know it has been quite some time since my last post here in the sacred forums (about 6 months actually), and it is Thursday, not Tuesday, and that you have probably wondered where I had been, and for all of that I am heartfully sorry. I have left you high and dry without my weekly educational and witty insurance writings, and I am sure you are worse for the wear for it. The reasoning for my lack of activity here is simply due to the ongoing work/life dichotomy. I have been extremely busy within the insurance-verse, family needs, etc. However, I have been here, and I will continue to be here and thank you to all the distillers that have reached out to me in the last several months for their insurance needs. With that, let us get to today’s topic that has been at the top of my mind for many months now. That topic is Auto Coverage. I know that I have written about the various types of auto coverage here on the forums in the past, but recently there was a situation that brought this back to the forefront in my mind. I have a distillery that I have worked with for the last several years. Over that time many things have changed, grown, ebbed and flowed, and the need to keep their insurance up to date has been of the utmost importance. A while back they decided to not only start doing some of their own delivery by use of employee vehicles, but also purchased an auto in the name of the company as well. They called me and asked about the insurance implications to which I filled them in on all of the various needs and coverages. We implemented a commercial auto policy for the owned auto and made sure to have the “hired and non-owned auto” endorsement added for employees using their own personal vehicles for delivery. THANK OUR LUCKY STARS WE DID!!! I must pause here and stress the importance of communication with your insurance agent here. I have had distilleries in the past that had people out delivering product in their own vehicles, and I had no idea that they were self-distributing. Although I almost always make sure to add on the hired and non-owned auto endorsement, there are some carriers that do not offer it. Had I not casually brought this up to them, they would have had folks out running around uncovered. Same goes with any changes you make at your distillery. If you bring in totes of product, make sure you know they are covered for value. Add equipment? Make a call and find out if it is covered. Now, I am not saying get crazy and call for each and every little thing. A $500 laptop may or may not be worth a phone call, but all “bigger ticket” items, or changes … make the call. If you add a tasting room that you didn’t have before, for sure you need to communicate that. Anyway, back to the story at hand. We added the commercial vehicle and hired and non-owned coverage. About 4 weeks later, one of the employees loaded up his pickup truck to go and deliver 20 cases of product to a local vendor. In doing so, he was involved in a 5-vehicle accident due to some numbskull that was speeding and weaving in and out of traffic. The employee had to jam on his breaks and swerve to avoid the aforementioned numbskull which inadvertently caused him to slam into the back side panel of another vehicle at an intersection which then caused both of them to slam into another vehicle at the cross street. Mr. Numbskull also ended up crashing into a vehicle on the other side of the intersection and thankfully no one was severely injured and there were several witnesses that attested to the fact that the Numbskull was the proximate cause of all of the damage. As you can imagine, my insured’s employee still shared some of the responsibility as he swerved to avoid the Numbskull and did cause some damage. This is the moment that the whole thing turned from an accident caused by some moron to a much bigger deal. Normally, the police would have collected everyone’s information, maybe issued a citation, and moved on. However, the pickup my insured’s employee was driving was full of product. So now we have an open bed pickup where the product is clearly visible in branded boxes, there are “XYZ” distillery boxes strewn about the intersection, and broken bottles leaking booze everywhere … a moment of silence for the lost bottles please … That is when it turned from just another auto accident into a “Hey, what are you doing with so much booze in your vehicle?” moment. The employee honestly stated that he was out on a delivery for “XYZ” distillery which means that everyone that he was involved in the incident immediately thought, “YYYEEEEE-HAAWWWW!!!! PAY DAY!!!! A distillery employee hit me, hurt me and damaged my vehicle, and THOSE GUYS HAVE TONS OF MONEY!!!!” As we all know, that is what people think, that distilleries basically print their own money. In reality, we all know that is more fiction than fact for many. Anyway, as you can imagine, the distillery started getting notices that they were being sued by several individuals that were involved in the accident. They went after the employee personally under his individual auto insurance, but then came after the distillery as well, since more and deeper pockets are the only thing lawyers are interested in. Due to the fact that we had the appropriate coverage in place, we knew that “XYZ” distillery had $1,000,000 worth of hired and non-owned automobile liability and should be safe. Had we not had this coverage in place, the distillery would have been opened up to these lawsuits with no protection and been solely on the hook for any resulting court awards. Super scary, as most of us don’t have an extra $1,000,000 just laying around for rainy days. The point of all of this is, communicate with your insurance agent. There are no dumb calls, or dumb questions, but if your agent does not know what you are up to, THEY DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE UP TO! If a claim happens, that is not the time to call and find out that discussions never happened and you don’t have coverage for something as simple as an auto accident. With that, I am off to work my insurance superhero powers for those of you who have contacted me, that I work with, and getting ready for the calls, emails, and texts from all of those out there that this will spur thoughts for that think, “OH NO, did I mention this to InsuranceMan 2.0!!! ????” I can see the future dear readers, it is a skill, after all, I am a superhero. Until Next Time Dear Reader … Stay Vigilant, Aaron Linden a.k.a. InsuranceMan 2.0!!! 307-752-5961 aaron@roaringforkins.com or insuranceman2.0@yahoo.com

@adamOVD, insurance claims are based mainly on two different factors: Frequency and Severity. What this means is that one or two MAJOR claims can affect a distilleries ability to find insurance (severity). As well, a flurry of smaller claims that have happened frequently (within a year or two period) can have a similar outcome due to the fact that there would seemingly be a "business practice" issue (frequency). The basic premise of insurance is that carriers pool funds from many to cover the losses of the few, thereby keeping premiums lower for the many. However, large catastrophic losses like the Heaven Hill fire in 1996 can have a monumental impact on everyone. Case in point, the underwriter that was on that particular risk then went on to be the head of a specialty division with another carrier and would not touch distilleries for years and years. To the point though, a loss here and there of this size should not impact the overall availability or cost of the rest of the distilleries out there. There are several carriers that will write distilleries, so the spread of risk is enough that a loss to one of six carriers should not affect the overall marketplace. I will say this though, ALL of the underwriters pay attention to any losses, whether they are on it or not. When Barton lost a bunch of barrels due to collapse, and then around a year later, O.S. Tyler had a collapse, that put the underwriting world on edge!!! In contrast, when Silver Trail blew up (so sad), underwriters paid attention, but it really did not affect the overall marketplace. Long Answer short, this kind of a loss, albeit sad, should not impact the overall rate or availability of distillery insurance. Maybe some carriers that were thinking about entering the marketplace may be scared off, but this really just is not a big enough loss to have much of an impact.

Happiest of Tuesday’s to you, dear reader, First and foremost, HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO YOU AND YOURS!!! I know that in these ever ebbing and flowing times, sometimes it can be difficult to be thankful, especially in 2020!!! Especially when states are trying to limit your freedoms of who you can have in your home for the holiday, or how many. I TOTALLY get that, however, we must never despair, as there is always so much to be thankful for. Here is a quick list of things that I am incredibly thankful for this year: · YOU!!! I know it sounds cheesier that a 4 cheese pizza with parmesan on top, but it is true! I have had a banner year for my business and so many of you have reached out to me and let me know that you wanted to work with me because of my postings here. It just means so much to me, and I am truly thankful for all of you. Whether you work with me or not, you are all very meaningful to me. Thank you!!! · During the Nation Wide shut down I was fortunate enough to have left Sheridanopolis and my fortress of insurancetude and travel with my family the week prior to all of the craziness, to see my folks for spring break. The Friday prior to us leaving to return home, the nation shut down. In that, we end up living with my mom and dad for almost two months. I had only seen them for a week here or there the last few years, and although things in the world were in turmoil, that is time that I never would have had with them, never could have planned for, and time spent with them of value that I would not have spent any other way. We laughed, loved, and feared together. They are getting a little older (mid 70’s), and I was fortunate enough to be able to assist them around their palatial wooded estate to get ready for the summer, eat, drink, walk, talk, and be with them for a period of time that was more valuable than an entire rickhouse full of 50 year old scotch. Oh, and my mom gave me a Master Class in kicking my but at billiards. SHE IS A SHARK!!! · I am thankful that in these weird times, that when so many of you switched to making sanitizer products to assist those scared and in need, that I was able to get several carriers to see how important your services were and be able to provide the insurance coverage you needed in order to assist in fighting the fight. Many balked at first, but with your help, we were able to make them realize that this was important and we got it done. · This sounds super odd to some perhaps, but I am thankful to have gotten ‘da ‘Rona. WHAT!?!?! Yes, in a strange way … I mean, I did not necessarily WANT IT, but I am grateful that even though I contracted it, I beat it, made it through somewhat unscathed (stupid pneumonia, I am still coughing a bit), am healthy enough to have done so, and truly had the full 2020 experience. Now I just need the t-shirt that say, “Been there, got that, never want to do it again!” · For family, friends, my dog and cat, and truly for those on the frontlines during all of what 2020 has had to throw at us. To all of you, and that does include many of you who stepped up and did what you could, thank you. I know it is not a long list, trust me, I could go on and on, and you know that from reading my other posts! I did not want to drone on, but I can tell you this, despite what has and is happening, it is up to us to choose and focus on the good, or the bad. The choice is ours, and both take the same amount of effort. There is always so much to be thankful for, sometimes we just need to find it, or change our perspective so that we can appreciate a struggle as beautiful, pain as a catalyst to becoming stronger, and value that which we enjoy and fuels us. You, my friends, fuel me. I get up every day and do what I do because you bring me joy, my work brings me joy, and communicating to you here … well, that is something I am eternally thankful for. InsuranceMan 2.0!!! is truly blessed and you will all be with me at my table this year for Thanksgiving!!! Until next time dearest readers … Stay Vigilant, Aaron Linden a.k.a. InsuranceMan 2.0!!! (307) 752-5961 aaron@roaringforkins.com or insuranceman2.0@yahoo.com

Good Tuesday to you, dear ADI Forum Reader, I hope you are all well and doing great. Quick personal update … I am still dealing with pneumonia, however, I am doing better than most (Superhero and all) and I am hopeful that by this weekend I will be in prime-super-form once again. OK, on to the hot topic at hand for today’s TMIT – Cancellation due to non-pay. As we all know, it has been a topsy-turvy world in 2020 and things have been difficult for many. Not to rehash the past, or pontificate ad nauseam on the future, but shut-downs, stay-at-homes, business closures, limited hours and seating, on and on, have been a difficult financial situation for many. With that, finances get tight and certain things either need to be let go out of necessity, or they were let go and missed simply because folks were on overload and just did not think about certain things during crisis/panic mode. I totally get it. A few short months ago we were worried about even finding toilet paper for God’s sake, let alone if certain bills were getting paid. (Quick aside, you know I love “asides” … I went to the local “Stuff-Mart” just yesterday and guess what … THEY ARE OUT OF ALL PAPER PRODUCTS!!! NOOOOO!!! NOT AGAIN!!!! It is true, no toilet paper, no paper towels, and no facial tissues. Seriously, again people, what is the deal???? Food galore, anything else you could ever want, TV’s, clothes, whatever … but no freakin’ paper products?!??!?! UGH!!!!) So, with all that has been going on, and appears to be happening again, I wanted to caution you about something in the insurance-verse that is starting to take a dreaded toll. CANCELLATIONS FOR NON-PAYMENT OF PREMIUMS … Dun-dah-DUN!!! Seriously though, this is becoming quite a huge factor with a lot of insured’s and carriers. People either had to miss some premium payments, because it was that or put food on the table, or some just flat out forgot (we had life to deal with, INSURANCE OVERLOARDS!!!!! Geeze!!!) The issues that are stemming from this however can be a bit dire. Let’s say that for whatever reason, you missed a payment, just one … or a few (as some carriers allowed for a “Forgiveness” of a few months, which they then built into the subsequent payments, kind of like a “Balloon” payment option). Now, you find out that the carrier has cancelled you policy for non-payment of premium. OK, maybe that is not the biggest deal that you have had to deal with in 2020, but you want to make sure your “ass”-ets are covered. What do you do?!?! Well, dear reader, that is why I, InsuranceMan 2.0!!! am penning this post to you today. There may be a few options. Let’s start with the best case scenario. You get a hold of your insurance agent (which should be me … but I won’t “agent shame” you here), and you let them know what happened. They console you and tell you they will get on the horn with the carrier and work some magic. This is the best possible situation. If they can get a hold of the underwriter and billing and let them know that you just could not pay at that time, but you are now willing to make up the payments and any future payments on a monthly basis (or in full, I have see that. Where the caveat to reinstating the policy is that it must be paid off in full), and voilà, you have your coverage back, no harm, no foul. They may ask for a No Known Loss Letter (NKLL), stating that you had no losses during that time, but again, no big deal. The second possible situation is that they will not reinstate the policy, but they may be willing to rewrite it. If any premium is outstanding, they may require that to be paid, and then rewrite the policy with new dates, but at least you can get your coverage going again. With a lapse, but still, you have coverage! Nothing that cannot be overcome in a few years. If you had not losses, OK, you are good to go. Then there is the possible last option, the dreaded, abhorred, loathsome, last option … the option that has spurring on the writing of this post. If all else fails, and your carrier is not willing to reinstate or rewrite the coverage, and now you are stained with the hideous mark of a “CANCELLATION FOR NON-PAYMENT OF PREMIUM” you are headed off to the “The Brokerage”!!! The land of Excess and Surplus Lines (E&S) coverage. THE HORROR!!!!!!!!! Actually, this is not that bad, nor is it the end of all things. I actually quite like E&S carriers. They do things no one else will, they can work you out of a pinch situation, and in many instances the coverage is just as good as what you were used to. The downside to this … Yes, come on, you knew there was going to be a downside, there always has to be a downside to everything. Premium. When you are ineligible for coverage with a standard carrier, the E&S carriers know that, and if you have “THE MARK”, there is a bit of a risk involved (from their perspective), so, in order to take that risk, they are going to make it a bit more worth their while. My experience has been that you can expect anywhere from a 1.5 to 3 times differential in premium. If you were paying $5,000 before the cancellation for non-payment, the E&S folks will probably write your coverage for around $7,500 to $15,000. I know, the irony here is palatable. If you had this kind of dough during all of the rest of the year, you would have paid the dang premiums in the first place, how are you expected to pay a substantial increase. Sorry, it is just the law of the land. Higher risk (supposedly), higher premiums. One other precluding side-effect of a non-pay cancellation is that standard carriers may not be willing to take you on for a few years. Some will after a clean track record of a year, others will be two … or longer, depending on the economy and “crystal ball” type stuff. Good news is that you can get coverage, bad news is it may cost you more. Don’t get down though, any agent (mmhumm … ME!) who know how to negotiate the “E&S” realm in the belly of the insurance industry beast will have options to assist in alleviating some of the heartburn via working out a premium finance option for you. In summary, if you have fallen victim to the difficult times of the recent past, whether I work with you or not, and you are looking for options to get your coverage back up and going or reinstated, turn on the Insurance Man 2.0!!! beacon, or just give me a call or shoot me an email, and I will gladly come to your rescue. I want you safe, secure, and insured. Until next time dear reader … Stay Vigilant, Aaron Linden a.k.a. Insurance Man 2.0!!! (307) 752-5961 aaron@roaringforkins.com or insuranceman2.0@gmail.com

Happiest Thursday to you, dearest reader, I know it has been a while and I am sure you are thirsting for a new TMIT by this point. I looked back and I believe the last posting I graced you with was around June the 1st. That means that it has been nearly 5 months since you have heard from me. My most sincere apologies to you for “Leavin’ ya hangin’!” As you know, summers generally are quite a busy time for a myriad of reasons, and I do not post much during those months. Family time, nice weather, and fighting the insurance battle is quite time consuming during the warm weather months, and much attention must be given during the time that the kiddos are out of school. Why then have I not written to you in a while, you may be wondering. Well, let me tell you … Over the summer I had also been diligently working on creating a set for a show that was to be performed in March, but then ‘da ‘Rona derailed all of that, so we were shooting for an October reboot date, so I had a lot going on between everything and building an entire set with the help of my gal-pal. We were able to do 4 performances of “Into the Woods”, in which I performed the part of Rapunzel’s Prince. Yes, I know, not only did I build the set, but I also was in the show. My superhero-ness knows no bounds. Anyway, after 4 shows we found out that several of the people involved had contracted ‘da ‘Rona. On Monday the 19th of October, I found out that the gal-pal had it, and the kiddo did as well. I was negative. Again, superhero-y!!! Regardless, I was going to be on lockdown for 14 days since we are all in the same super-lair, breathing the same super-air. It did not take long for my supermind to do the math on this situation and cogitate on the resolution. I concluded that I did not want to get 10 days in to a 14-day lockdown, only to end up with the dreaded “VID”, which would extent my lockdown by another few weeks. With that, I decided to tend to the ill that were milling about my lair of solitude, and, long-story-short, I contracted ‘da ‘Rona and was on lockdown until November the 2nd. A quick aside on ‘da ‘Vid … It really was not that bad for us, it was like a bad cold or the flu, really (without the nausea or intestinal issues, there was none of that, so the toilet paper shortage thing still baffles me). There were a few days of odd aches and pains in weird places, like your ankles and hips. There were a few days of headaches, but again, not all that horrible. Thankfully, we are all in good shape, after all, we are a superhero family … duh! I can see though how this virus would have a much more sever effect on those with other health concerns, the elderly, etc. It is not anything to mess around with, but we made it though relatively unscathed. An aside to the aside … We all did lose our sense of taste and smell, and that SuperSucked!!! For me, it became a choir to even eat. It was pointless. No taste, no smell, it was just like texture of something in your mouth and you were never satiated. I pretty much gave up eating altogether for a while, and only consumed what was needed to not become weak. I cannot afford to let my superstrength go with so much insurance battling to take care of. That would be reckless of me, and the burden of taking care of so many leaves me selfless, so I ate when I needed to keep up my abilities. One more quick aside-to-the-aside, with another aside. Not being able to smell was bizarre. It was not like being stuffed up and only “kind of smelling” things. THERE WAS NOTHING!!! NO SMELL OF ANY KIND!!! To the point that I pulled out a bottle of barrel strength bourbon (124 proof), poured about ¾ of an ounce, nosed it … NOTHING. I could tell it was “vapory”, but there was no smell of anything. I put the bourbon in my mouth, swished it around … NOTHING! Swallowing the “should be delicious” drink … NOTHING!!! Friends, there is nothing more demoralizing than not being able to taste a delicious booze!!! OK, back to where I have been. So, I come out of “covid-quarantine” on November 2nd, several days later, I have a helluva cough starting. What is with that? I had no cough with the ‘Rona, so was this something else. As it turns out, yes, yes it was. I went back to the Doc on November 9th only to find out that I have secondary pneumonia brought on by ‘da ‘Rona. Oh, dear reader, I must tell you, this aspect of illness is far-and-away 10 times worse than anything I had with the virus. It is kicking my super-glutes. So fatigued, worn out from coughing, and just overwhelmingly tired. It is a new level. Alas, I will bounce back, I will be better, and I will emerge victorious … perhaps as InsuranceMan 3.0!!!, LOL!!! No, I will stay “2.0”. If I went another level higher, I may just become ethereal and we cannot have that. ***** HERE IS THE INSURANCE PART OF THE ARTICLE, FOR THOSE OF YOU STILL HERE AND PAYING ATTENTION ***** In my time spent in my lair of solitude, I have been diligently working with several of my national carriers to relax some of the stringent underwriting guidelines that I have previously written about. And guess what??!?! They have relaxed several of them and we were able to provide insurance this year for folks that they declined last year, thereby saving my insureds money and increasing their coverage!!! This is a WIN-WIN for everyone. Yes, even in my state of illness, I was working on your behalf, dear reader, in order to provide you with more options, better coverage, and less premium out the door. InsuranceMan 2.0!!! was still hard at work for you, even whilst battling the forces of the Virus!!! I will never rest in the battle of the insurance-universe. For those of you out there that are placed with an Excess and Surplus Lines Carrier, take heed and get in touch with me. I may have options for you to provide you with a standard and admitted carrier that we would have had very little chances with at this time last year. What could it hurt to try?!?!? With that, I must sign off for the time being, but rest assured, I am back, better than ever, and I will be providing you with TMIT’s on a regular basis. I know, I know … You don’t have to thank me … it is my gift to you. Until next time, dear reader … stay healthy, stay happy, and stay positive. Things will be back to “normal-normal” soon, I know it. Stay Vigilant, Aaron Linden a.k.a. InsuranceMan 2.0!!! (307) 752-5961 aaron@roaringforkins.com or insuranceman2.0@yahoo.com

Happiest and greatest of Tuesday mornings to you dear ADI-ers, My oh my … how long has it been since I last sat in my lair to pen a TMIT?!?! Too long is the correct answer. Summertime always seems to be a new level of busy, and this year that too has been taken to the “n-th” degree. First and foremost, I hope my writing finds you all doing well, staying healthy, and hopefully enjoying as much of the nice weather as is possible, despite the current level of weirdness, wherever you are. I am certainly one of the fortunate few. Here in Sheridanopolis, things have remained relatively “normal” for the most part throughout this whole situation. Stores are open, restaurants and bars continue to operate, and really there was only a bit of a shutdown (with the allowance of curb-side for EVERYTHING) for only a few weeks. I travel outside of this area though, and talk to others of you in different parts of the country, and things sound very difficult and scary. If I could rectify that situation for you with my super powers, I certainly would, in a swift dang hurry. OK, on to the quick TMIT update for today dealing with the world of insurance. As you are all aware, this “situation” has taken it toll on many things. Business are hurting, prices on many common everyday items are up, supply chains are a wreck, and folks may not be making money like they had been. In the first quarter to nearly half the year, the insurance companies were doing what they could to off-set premiums, forgive a month or two of payments, even giving some money back to personal line customers since they were not driving as much. Tip ‘o the cap to those carriers that did that and understood. We are moving into and are in the “Second half of the year” though, and although things are still tight in many places, carriers are now moving in the direction of the “old normal”. What that means to those of us in the distillery insurance arena is that not only are premiums expected to be paid on time and in the full amount due, but renewal are seeing an increase as well as premiums charged on new business. I wanted to give you all a “Head’s Up” on this so that hopefully things won’t come as a shock to you if you are looking to start up or renew your policy, no matter who you work with. Out of the top 5 carriers in the country that will write insurance for distilleries, all of them are seeing rate increases right now of between 10% - 20% in some cases. If you are unfortunate enough to have sustained a loss in the past three years, you may even see rates increase as much as 35% - 45%!!!! EGADS!!!! Yes, you read that correctly, sorry. I have seen an average increase across all carriers and across the country on average of 14.25% since July of this year. Not to be the bearer of more troubling news, rather, the guy “in the know” that is wanting to prepare you, so that you are not blindsided. The optimist in me is looking for the silver lining (wow, I am using a lot of cliché’s in todays piece … I guess that is what happens when you don’t write something for a while) in all of this, and that silver lining is that the insurance market is cyclical. What I mean is that “hard markets” are usually on the horizon and occur every 5 to 7 years and are often spurred on by something dramatic. Fires, natural disasters, major instances like riots and looting, or pandemics. Well … welcome to 2020 where we have had them all. So, although we are seeing a hardening of the marketplace in the way of increased premiums, the hardening usually comes in one of two forms: Premium increases due to those aforementioned items, or a hardening of the market where carriers pull out of a specific industry altogether. We are seeing the first, and I am confident that we will not see the latter. Often times the latter of these two shifts will cause the former as well due to the fact that there is less competition in the marketplace. Premium increases usually last for a little while, and then things adjust back down, whereas if a carrier pulls out of the market, it is usually quite a while before we see another join in. So at the end of the day (another cliché for you), keep you heads up (there I go again) and know that like all things, this too shall pass (I could not resist one more, its kind of a theme). I, InsuranceMan 2.0!!!, have been here for you and will continue to be here for you in order to battle the forces of the insurance-verse and keep premiums as low as possible all while obtaining the best coverage possible. If you need anything or are uncertain as to if you have the best coverage for the best price, let me know and I will gladly assist you. I am always on call, day or night (last one)!!! Until next time dear reader … Stay Vigilant, Aaron Linden a.k.a InsuranceMan 2.0!!! 307-752-5961 Insuranceman2.0@yahoo.com or aaron@roaringforkins.com

@hiredguns and @Naked Spirits Distillery, Gentlemen, you are too kind! Thank you so much. @ncataldo, I just shot over a response to your message as well. I look greatly forward to speaking with you.

Hello fellow ADI-goers, I write today’s installment of the Tuesday Morning Insurance Tidbit (TMIT) with a heavy heart. A heart that goes out to all of those throughout not only our country, but the world. As we all know, these last several days have seen unprecedented acts of brutality, destruction, loss of life, loss of property, loss of respect, and in many ways, loss of humanity on several fronts. I am not here to pull out a political soapbox, nor am I here to take sides or debate any of the situations gripping our nation and the world. Rather I am here to provide information, as I always do, in regard to all thing’s insurance. We all are keenly aware of the civil unrest that has taken hold in many of the communities in which we work, live, and have established businesses. The chaos and destruction are nothing short of abhorred and my heart goes out to those effected by these actions. Of course, in these times, insurance is probably not at the top of peoples minds in the face of wondering if your business may be destroyed, looted, or burned to the ground. However, it is at the top of many distillers’ minds. In the last few days, I have answered no less than two dozen phone calls and emails pertaining to questions involving insurance and riots. From those of you who are not in the “hot-zones” per se but are looking for answers, to one of my dear friends who literally has an ANTIFA rally happening directly in front of his building as I write this article. Panicked (obviously), scared, and trying to remove as much of anything highly flammable from the building as possible, he too called me to ask about his insurance coverage. To the point as to not waste time, MOST policies (you always have to read the policy language to make 100% certain) do contain RIOT coverage. If your PROPERTY policy, or the PROPERTY section of your policy is written on a “Special Causes of Loss” form, then chances are you have coverage. Again, READ THE POLICY. If you cannot find it or do not know what to look for, SEND IT TO ME AND I WILL READ IT FOR YOU!!! In the property section of your policy, hidden deep in the “insurance-ese” language, buried in the “CP” form you will find a DEFINITIONS section. This is where you need to be looking. In that section there is a “SPECIFIED CAUSES OF LOSS” that lists off all of the covered causes of loss for your policy. Within that definition, if you have the coverage that you should have, you will see that “ … riot or civil commotion …” is listed. WHEW!!! If you are struggling to find this area, or you just don’t know if it is there, or if you are just too frazzled to figure it out, I , InsuranceMan 2.0!!! will gladly assist you in whatever way that I can. Even if we do not work together (yet), I will gladly offer my superhero services to you and assist you in figuring out if you have this coverage or not in your time of need. All I ask is this … take some time to embrace those that you love, phone up (DON’T TEXT!!!) old friends and family to check in, stop and say a prayer or send out an ethereal message to the universe (whatever your belief system … it does not matter to me, I don’t care, but anything and everything does help), and know that it is always darkest before the dawn of a fresh new day that brings fresh hope and prosperity. Until next time dear readers … Stay safe, stay strong, stay the course, and as always …. Stay Vigilant, Aaron Linden a.k.a. InsuranceMan 2.0!!! (307) 752-5961 aaron@roaringforkins.com or insuranceman2.0@yahoo.com

Most glorious of Tuesday mornings to you, dearest reader!!! Although spring has not yet sprung here in Sheridanopolis, and the day is a bit cold and grey, rest assured that it is one of the most glorious days in years!!! As many of you know from posts pasts, every superhero has a weakness. I had two, but one of them now is powerless over me!!! If you are a regular reader, which you should be by this point, you know that one of my weaknesses is getting wood splinters in my eye. Still susceptible to that one … I think … I do not want to find out, really. The other issue that plagued me for the last two years was the hideous, “Non-Compete Clause” imposed by the former insurance evil-doers. Dun-dun-daaaahhhhhhh!!!!!!!! OH THE HUMANITY!!! THE HIDEOUSNESS!!! THE DISGUSTING SIGHT OF SUCH A FOUL BEAST!!! SHEILD YOUR EYES IN HOROR!!! Well dear reader, alas, I have vanquished this disgusting blight of the insurance-verse. As of 5/9/2020 I am free to once again soar about the insurance-verse and freely work with whomever I wish. So, if you had worked with me in the past but could not for the last few years, or if you are newer to the industry, or if you have been established for years, regardless, we can now freely do whatever we wish with whichever carrier we wish, without repercussion!!! Huzzah!!!!!! This is my invitation to you: What are you waiting for?!?! I am the greatest insurance superhero the distillery realm has ever known. Bar-none, the strongest distillery insurance provider on the planet, and now, unencumbered by any contracts or legality. The shackles of the insurance evil-does have been cast aside!!! Let us use this opportunity to work together once again, or for the first time, and let me provide you with all of the security that you need for the lowest premiums possible!!! Until next time dear reader … Stay Vigilant!!! Aaron Linden a.k.a. InsuranceMan 2.0!!! 307-752-5961 aaron@roaringforkins.com or insuranceman2.0@yahoo.com

Good Day to you, Dear Reader, I truly hope this installment of the TMIT finds you healthy and in good spirits. As things get back to the “old normal”, (at least that is what I am calling it) as several states are either loosening restrictions or throwing the doors back open completely, I want to point out a few potential insurance issues to keep in the back of your mind. Many of my distillery, brewery, meadery, and winery friend are now being allowed to have some limited outdoor seating areas for their tasting room operations. Although the restrictions vary depending on the state they are located in, this is a huge help in getting back to business, getting sales flowing again, and going back to what we use to know. Partner that with the nicer weather that many are seeing around the country and this is a big win-win for many. With that though, as always, there are “insurance” ramifications to consider. That is why I, InsuranceMan 2.0!!!, am here to assist you and shed light into the dark recesses of insuranceology that you may have not thought of, but that could impact you and your operations. Regarding your insurance and some outdoor seating areas there are several insurance items to consider. Your insurance policy has a “Description of Premises” as well as an “All Premises you Own, Rent, or Occupy”. This shows up on your General Liability as well as your Liquor Liability policies as well as you property policy, and seemingly would place limits on you in regard as to where you can operate your business and potentially serve your products. That is not really the case. Modern Commercial General Liability (CGL) policies do not have “location specific” coverage restriction. However, some carriers may have very tight restriction on this via different endorsements and demand to know if you are every doing off-site tastings, selling, etc. Although it is somewhat rare, you had best make certain you know if you are permitted by the carrier to operate in adjoining or adjacent property areas, i.e. Parking Lots, Alleyways, Sidewalks, etc. Just because your state, local government, local law enforcement is allowing for you to temporarily operate this way, it does not by default mean that your insurance carrier may be on board. Better safe than sorry. Another insurance section to be mindful of is your property portion. Once again, there is a “Description” or “All Premises” denotation of where you operate your business from. For your Business Personal Property (BPP) it is usually strictly limited to that location as cited in the policy. Why does this matter, you may be wondering? Well, let’s say that you have moved tables, chairs, a temporary bar, and a bunch of your product to a location across the street in order to serve products and operate your business. What if something happens to all of your “stuff” while it is away from you “Described” location??? Well, if you are strictly limited by your policy language there could be a big problem since your “stuff” was not where you said it was. The good news side to this is that many carriers provide a bit of a “Give Back” here, by providing an endorsement that states that they consider your “Premises” to be your designated area of operations and anything within 1,000 feet of your described location. That is great news and would provide coverage for your BPP at your new al fresco location across the street. Again, you need to know what your policy says prior to getting excited to get back to normal and selling drinks. It could save you a lot of trouble down the road. “Ummm … I have a question for you, InsuranceMan 2.0!!!.” Alright, dearest reader, please proceed. “Yes, so what happens if I am in and area where there really is no possibility for outdoor seating but I have made arrangements to set up an outdoor venue a few miles from my distillery in a friends parking lot?” I am so very glad you asked. This is something that I have been dealing with recently, so your question is quite apropos. If you are in a situation where you cannot set up anything right at your location and the only option is to set up outside of that 1,000 foot parameter, it should not be a problem. Most carriers are willing to endorse the policy with a secondary location to ensure that coverage would be in effect. They will want to most likely know items such as the address of the location, how long you plan on occupying that area, what the other business is that is operating from that location, and how much BPP value you plan on having located there. Once those things are known, the carrier should be able to file the endorsement and enact coverage for you. Some carriers may require additional premium for this, others may not. It just depends on who it is and how they do things. Keep in mind as well, once you are back to the old normal and allowed to have folks flood your indoor seating area of your tasting room, make sure to remove the secondary location from your policy, mmkay?!?! With that dear, loyal, TMIT readers, I will be off for now. Please know that you can contact me at any time with questions (even if I am not your insurance agent … and why am I not your agent?!?! Really??? Obviously I am knowledgeable beyond my years, provide you with incredibly insightful information, and I am an Insurance Superhero for crying-out-loud), or concerns. I am always here to assist you in any and every way possible and I love sharing with anyone that is wanting or needing assistance. Until next time, dearest reader … Stay Vigilant, Aaron Linden a.k.a. InsuranceMan 2.0!!! 307-752-5961 aaron@roaringforkins.com or insuranceman2.0@yahoo.com

Good Day My Dearest ADI Readers, Ah … the days continue to come and go, and things have been VERY BUSY in the world of InsuranceMan 2.0!!! No binge-watching Tiger King at my fortress of solitude!!! During these temporarily strange times, it is great to know that so many of you are out there still producing your products, making sanitizer products, and yes, many of you are still opening new distilleries. It warms my super-heart to know that things are still moving along, albeit in a direction that we did not necessarily plan on for the time being. With that, I know that I shared some information a little while back on an insurance carrier that I have been working with for about the last 10 months, but I wanted to revisit this with you. Recently, I have been writing an incredible amount of distilleries with this carrier simply due to the fact that they offer amazing coverage and recently they have been coming in anywhere from 15% up to 52% (yes, that was typed correctly, FIFTY-TWO PERCENT) less than anyone else in the marketplace. I would STRONGLY encourage all of you in the following states to get a hold of me: Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin. If you are located in any of these states and would like to save a bunch of money on your insurance premiums, you need to get in touch with me. The application process is simple, the coverage is among the best of any carriers out there, you can save a bundle of dough, and the pièce de résistance is … you get to work with a real life insurance superhero … ME … InsuranceMan 2.0!!! Talk about a win-win-win-win situation!!! If you are in one of these states and are just getting up and going, if your renewal is just around the corner, or even if you just reupped your coverage and are in the midst of a policy currently, it is never too late to make the switch and start saving. I look forward to hearing from each and every one of you in these 11 states. Until next time, dear reader … Stay Vigilant!!! Aaron Linden a.k.a. InsuranceMan 2.0!!! (307)752-5961 aaron@roaringforkins.com or insuranceman2.0@yahoo.com

Good day to you wonderful ADI’ers, In this installment of the TMIT, I am going to keep things short and sweet. As this pandemic wreaks havoc upon our world daily and forces us to change many of our day-to-day activities, it is important to keep up with and stay fluid in regard to many different aspects of our lives. A few weeks back it was the battle to have insurance companies allow for the sale or donation of hand sanitizer. ***** Quick update to that as well, Philadelphia Insurance Companies has come out and stated the following on this topic: ”We can now confirm coverage for distilleries manufacturing and selling hand sanitizer, provided they’re selling the hand sanitizer at cost. So, our updated statement is that We can confirm coverage if certain conditions are met: · The insured does not have a contract to manufacture hand sanitizer for any entity. If a contract exists, we first need to review the contract before we can confirm coverage. · The hand sanitizer is sold “at cost” · There are no warranties or guarantees for any products. · If a communicable disease exclusion is not present on the policy, we need to add it in order to confirm coverage. · Adherence to WHO controls as outlined by the website: https://www.who.int/gpsc/5may/Guide_to_Local_Production.pdf “ ***** So, good news there. This has been something I have been working on for quite some time. Anyway, now the big battle is that folks are having difficulty making ends meet during these crazy times. Not being open or able to sell goods, products, or services is an economic impact that truly knows no bounds. How are people to pay ongoing bills without the ability to sell things, go to work and make money, and on and on. It is getting tough out there for many. That is where I, InsuranceMan 2.0!!! am here to come to the rescue. I promised “them” that I would not say who “they” are, but I have worked with many different insurance companies over the last few days to come up with some viable solutions during this worldwide emergency. With that said, if you are struggling with finances currently I would suggest reaching out to your insurance company, not necessarily your agent, but the actual underwriting company, and more specifically the BILLING DEPARTMENT, and let them know you are having some financial issues. Chances are that they will allow you to reduce your March and April payments, or possibly even skip them altogether without fear of cancellation. YES, IT IS TRUE!!! You very well may be able to make a small payment or none at all through until the month of May. Again, this is an ever-changing situation and that is why this is being offered until May for many carriers at this time. Dependent upon how long this all lasts will determine if this offer is potentially extended. Do yourselves a favor though, check into this and see if your carrier is offering this assistance at this time. Any little bit helps, and I am always here, on the front lines watching out for you. It’s just what insurance-superhero’s do. Until Next Time, Dear Reader … Stay Vigilant, Aaron Linden a.k.a. InsuranceMan 2.0!!! (307)752-5961 aaron@roaringforkins.com or insuranceman2.0@yahoo.com

Safe and healthy Friday to you all, I know that I missed the Tuesday installment of the TMIT, but I did want to get a post out to all of you today. As you may or may not know, I sit on the City Council in Sheridanopolis and recently my time has been devoted to a localized issue that I know many of you may be facing on a national level as well. It fells like months ago, but it was just recently I was fighting the insurance companies to allow for the manufacturing of hand sanitizer. Now, I have been embroiled in the crafting of an ordinance that has taken a lot of time and kept me from my TMIT posting this last week. What was the ordinance you may ask? It was an emergency ordinance allowing for the delivery of alcoholic beverages from liquor stores, microbreweries, wineries, distilleries, meaderies, cideries, etc., as long as they have the proper licensing in place for the sale of their goods. Up until now, this was deemed as not permissible due to state and local statue. With the passing of this ordinance, which did unanimously pass, these folks are now able to sell and then deliver alcoholic goods to private citizens and their residences. WOOHOO!!! In these crazy times of “physical distancing” (InsuranceMan 2.0!!! refuses to say “social distancing”, we can still stay social folks, we just need to stay physically away), it is important to be able to assist people in not going out, but we certainly want them to be able to get their food, medications, and ALCOHOL! After getting this passed, I was feeling pretty dang good. I wasn’t going to break my arm off patting myself on the back, but I was pretty pleased with myself. WELL, NOT SO FAST!!! The universe has a funny way of doing that to us, doesn’t it. As soon as I get the ordinance passed, I literally received an email from a business saying that their insurance company was PROHIBITING them, under the policy, from making any kind of delivery. That it would be excluded and therefore, if they started delivering alcohol, they would have no coverage and likely be dropped!!! UGH!!! No rest for this superhero. On to the new fight I go. Thankfully, I have a lot of good friends in good places and I was able to quickly avert this crisis. I reached out, immediately to a myriad of underwriters and I am pleased to announce that I have several carriers that will allow for the delivery of alcohol. Mmmmmm …… pleased with myself twice in one day …….. no bad. With that being said, if you need coverage for the delivery of your product, or if you have local liquor retailers selling your product, CHECK YOUR INSURANCE TO SEE IF IT IS COVERED!!! I am being inundated with folks reaching out to me telling me their agent and/or carrier are saying they are not allowed to deliver their goods. If you, or someone you know finds that they are not going to be allowed to deliver alcohol, have them call me, email me, text me, raise the InsuranceMan 2.0!!! signal to the sky … whatever it takes, and I will fix their problem. We need to band together, people, and be part of a solution, not part of the many problems that we face on a daily basis now. Retail Liquor Stores, Distilleries, Microbreweries, whatever … if they are having issues that are keeping them from doing business, let me get them back to business as usual (or BIGGER business as this looks like this is how it is going to be for a while). The ultimate goal is to keep your sales up during this time so let me assist you or your sellers in doing so. Until next time, dear reader … Stay Vigilant, healthy, and safe, Aaron Linden a.k.a. InsuranceMan 2.0!!! 307-752-5961 aaron@roaringforkins.com or insuranceman2.0@yahoo.com

All, Please see my other post on this, Philadelphia insurance also has now finally come out (after much priding on my part), and said that as long as you are “donating” you sanitizer product, you are covered. If you are charging for it, different story. Call me with questions! Stay Vigilant, Aaron Linden a.k.a. InsuranceMan2.0!!! 307-752-5961 aaron@roaringforkins.com or insurancman2.0@yahoo.com

All, Please be aware, Philadelphia Insurance Company has now also come out and said that if you are “donating” the sanitizer product, they will cover it as well! Big NEWS!!! If you are selling it, different scenario, call me. Call me with questions. I have been working on this for quite some time, and this is big news. Let’s beat this thing, people!!! Stay Vigilant, Aaron Linden a.k.a. InsuranceMan 2.0!!! 307-752-5961 aaron@roaringforkins.com or insurancman2.0@yahoo.com

All, Not to place a damper on this in any way, there is one other aspect to contemplate aside from the Fed's and the TTB. That aspect is YOUR INSURANCE. Please see the post here: Before you jump in full throttle on the sanitizer bandwagon, you may want to make a call to your insurance provider to see if they will cover you for this none-contemplated liability exposure. If it is not on the policy as a General Liability Hazard Classification Code, you may not have insurance coverage if something were to happen. Make the call, then make the sanitizer. I am all for it and as you will see, I have been tirelessly working on this for the majority of the day today. Call with questions: 307-752-5961. Stay Vigilant, Aaron Linden a.k.a. InsuranceMan 2.0!!!

Good Thursday afternoon to you out there in ADI-Land, I wanted to give you some good news here today. We all can use good news, right?!?!? In light of all of the craziness and hording of items, many distilleries around the country have taken to manufacturing hand sanitizer. Brilliant! Kudos to those of you who can and are doing this in order to help folks out! Although I am a HUGE proponent of distilleries doing this, my “insurance-brain” kicked in and I thought to myself, “ Hummm … Well, ‘InsurancMan 2.0!!!’, hand sanitizer is not necessarily a rated liability exposure contemplated by the hazard classifications listed on the policy. Do you think the carriers would be willing to cover this?” That is just how my mind works, people. Don’t judge. Of course, I had to shoot off a flurry of emails earlier this morning asking the question so that I could know what the stance would be. “Who in their right mind would not be willing to cover this kind of thing at this point? It helps out distillers, it helps out people, and it helps the economy and battle of the virus!!! Of course they will all say, ‘Sure, that sounds great and helpful!’” As of writing this post, at 4:33pm MST, and as we all know, “Big ships turn slow”, there is one carrier that has come back to me affirming that they will provide coverage for this type of exposure currently to assist in combating this virus, or at least the spread of it! That is one carrier, out of many contacted, that took the bull by the horns and made a fluid and positive change to assist everyone in this process. One carrier that sees the importance of this situation and implemented quick change in a dynamic environment, without all the bureaucracy and, “Well, we are in the process of assessing this and we may know something at some point … blah, blah, blah …” I want to give a H U G E shout-out to this carrier. THANK YOU TO ILLINOIS CASUALTY COMPANY!!! If you are with this carrier, join me here on this post and let them know how much you appreciate what they are doing to assist you, and the country in understanding that things need to be able to move quickly so that we can all pitch in and beat this thing quicker and sooner than later. If you are not with this carrier, maybe you want to be. Depending on what state you reside in and if they write there, maybe you should give them a shot. Feel free to contact me and if possible, I can get you placed with this carrier. It is folks like this that we need to show our appreciation for and a great way to do that is to do business with folks that want to do business with us. They have basically said that they are willing to provide this coverage through the end of April, at which point they will assess where things stand, and if necessary, they may add this as a classification code to the General Liability side of the policy. Until then though, they are willing to take this on in order to help out. Huzzah, Illinois Casualty Company. Thank you for doing your part!!! Until next time dear readers … Stay Vigilant, Aaron Linden a.k.a. InsuranceMan 2.0!!! 307-752-5961 aaron@roaringforkins.com or insuranceman2.0@yahoo.com